Monday, January 30, 2012

“Lucas L. Meredith, Jr., 87, of Dewitt, Virginia, passed away on January 28, 2012. Born in 1924 to the late Lucas L. and Mary Francis Gregory Meredith, Mr. Meredith was a Navy Veteran of World War II, seeing service in the Pacific. He owned the Flower Mart in Petersburg for more than half a century. Mr. Meredith was a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Camp A. P. Hill, #167. A memorial service honoring his life will be held at 11 am, Saturday, February 4, at Rocky Run Methodist Church, Dewitt, Virginia.”

A typical obituary anyone might read from a sleepy, small Southern town?

Not in the case of this American!

You see, Mr. Meredith’s late father—Lucas L. Meredith, Sr., who passed away in 1927—was also a veteran … a Confederate veteran! Which across the Old South, makes his son…a real son.

Mr. Meredith’s father--born on March 15, 1842, in DeWitt, Virginia--was sworn into the Confederate Army at Dinwiddie Court House on May 23, 1861. His uncle—his father’s older brother, James—took the strongest horse in the family stable and joined the 3rd Virginia Cavalry, serving under Gen. J. E. B. Stuart as a corporal. His dad ended up in the infantry: Private Lucas L. Meredith, Co. C, 3rd Virginia Infantry, Kemper’s Brigade, Pickett’s Division. Both brothers would survive the war.

"It is definitely a direct connection to the past when you can say this gentleman's father fought in the Civil War," he said. "We call them real sons and real daughters of Confederate veterans."

James Brown said his grandfather was 71 when his father, James Brown Sr., was born in 1912.

"My Dad and I are so lucky to be alive," James Brown recalled.

James H.H. Brown joined the Confederate army at the beginning of the Civil War and fought in 19 major battles, including Manassas, Gettysburg, Chattanooga, Campbell Station and Fort Sanders.

"He made it to the end at Appomattox with the surrender of Lee and then he walked back home," James Brown said. "He was wounded twice and, back then with the medical situation, he could've had a leg lopped off and bled to death."

James Brown said his father was 11 when James H.H. Brown died. He said his grandfather wasn't bitter with former Union soldiers.

"I always remember about my grandfather telling my dad he had nothing against Yankees," James Brown said. "They were good men and he was a good man. It was just something they had to do."

Brown Sr. also had a daughter by a second wife. Mr. Brown lived in Tucson, Ariz., for 19 years and was close to his daughter's family, his son said.

Mr. Brown had lung cancer two years ago and had treatment. His son said Mr. Brown's health began to deteriorate quickly in the past few weeks.

"At 100, everything starts to wear out. He went very quietly. He went in peace, comfortable without pain," his son said. "He had a ton of friends who came down to see him the last couple days. He was a popular man, a real country gentleman. He enjoyed people and they enjoyed him."

A memorial service is set for 11 a.m. Feb. 14 at Tellico Village Community Church. Click Funeral Home in Lenoir City is in charge of arrangements.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Former President John Tyler’s (1790-1862) grandchildren still aliveBy Eric Pfeiffer

Former President John Tyler, born 221 years ago, still has two living grandchildren. The one-term president isn't a well-known historical figure; he's probably best remembered for helping to push through the annexation of Texas in 1845, shortly before leaving office.

So, how is it possible that a former president who died 150 years ago would still have direct descendents alive today? As it turns out, the Tyler men were known for fathering children late in life. And that math is pretty outstanding when added up:

John Tyler was born in 1790. He became the 10th president of the United States in 1841 after William Henry Harrison died in office. Tyler fathered Lyon Gardiner Tyler in 1853, at age 63. Then, at the age of 71, Lyon Gardiner Tyler fathered Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr. in 1924 and four years later at age 75, Harrison Ruffin Tyler. Both men are still alive today.

That means just three generations of the Tyler family are spread out over more than 200 years. President Tyler was also a prolific father, having 15 children (8 boys and 7 girls) with two wives.

He even allegedly fathered a child, John Dunjee, with one of his slaves.

Some context on Tyler's progeny: Jane Garfield (granddaughter of James Garfield) is 99, making her the oldest living grandchild of a former president, even though Garfield took office 40 years after Tyler.

Former Ambassador John Eisenhower is the oldest living presidential child, turning 89this past August.

A few other Tyler tidbits:

He joined the South's secession efforts shortly before his death and was even elected to the Confederate House of Representatives. Because of his Confederate ties, Tyler's is the only presidential death not officially mourned.

Tyler ascended to the presidency in 1841. Other things that happened that year: Canada became a nation; the United States Senate has its first filibuster, lasting nearly a month; the city of Dallas, Texas was founded.

Tyler was the first person to ascend to the presidency through succession as vice president.

Monday, January 16, 2012

The following article first appeared in Morningside Bookshop’s Catalog 18, issued in September 1985.

In early February 1864 Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman marched 20,000 soldiers eastward from Vicksburg to Meridian, Mississippi, driving Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk’s little army into Alabama. Sherman’s army remained at Meridian from the 14th to the 20th anxiously awaiting the arrival from Memphis of 7,000 cavalry led by Maj. Gen. W. Sooy Smith. Not hearing anything from Smith, Sherman led his columns back to Vicksburg.

Sooy Smith and his powerful mounted corps on their foray deep into Mississippi were fated to meet Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest and his 2,500 “critter” cavalrymen. Although the Yanks outnumbered the Rebs almost three to one, Forrest, one of the great combat leaders of American history, evened the odds. Forrest, a physically powerful man, knew that war meant fighting and fighting meant killing, a philosophy that made him a terrible enemy. In the running engagement, known as the battle of Okolona, Forrest demonstrated these qualities of leadership as he and his men put the “skeer on Sooy Smith and his corps.”

Smith’s 7,000 horsemen had left Memphis on February 11, ten days late. When they took the field, their march was slowed by muddy roads and it was the 16th before they crossed the Tallahatchie at New Abany. Riding down the Pontotoc Ridge, the bluecoats struck the Mobile & Ohio Railroad at Okolona on February 18. Two days later, one mile north of West Point, Sooy Smith’s troops encountered and drove one of Forrest’s brigades through the town. Smith now lost his nerve. Satisfied that Sherman was already en route back to Vicksburg from Meridian and that Forrest had been reinforced, Smith, on the 21st, retired from West Point to Okolona.

Forrest and his men resumed that pursuit at first light on the 22d. By mid-morning the Confederates had advanced some 14 miles overtaking the Yankees as they neared Okolona. Forrest’s efforts to cut off and destroy the enemy rear guard as it passed through the town were frustrated by the usual problems in coordinating converging columns, and the enemy retreated northwestward up the Pontotoc road. The chase continued, Forrest leading his escort.At Ivey’s Hill, some six miles beyond Okolona, the Federals came to a stand. Dismounting they occupied a timber-covered ridge and threw up fence rail barricades across the road. Col. Jeffrey Forrest, the general’s youngest and favorite brother, led the attack on the Yankee roadblock.

In the ensuing desperate fighting, Jeffrey was shot through the neck and fell mortally wounded, within 300 yards of the enemy strongpoint. His men faltered as they saw their leader fall, and, dismounting, they prepared to hold the ground gained. General Forrest, informed that his brother had been shot, galloped to the site and dismounted. Jeffrey died as Nathan Bedford cradled him in his arms and called out “Jeffrey, Jeffrey” in a voice choked with emotion. Satisfied that Jeffrey was dead, Forrest kissed him on the forehead, laid him down, and called for Maj. John P. Strange, and, with tears in his eyes, asked him to take care of his brother’s body.

In the immediate vicinity, battle-hardened Confederates had ceased fire, but to the right and left the dismounted Rebels exchanged shots with the bluecoats on the ridge. As reinforcements came into view, Forrest remounted and brandishing his saber ordered his bugler to sound the charge, as he shouted for his men to follow him. With his escort hard on his horse’s heels, Forrest galloped toward the enemy, and to some of his people his actions seemed “so rash as to savor madness.” The Federal troopers defending the roadblock “broke to the rear and retreated at great speed.” Forrest, closely trailed by some 120 of his men, pursued. About a mile up the road, some 500 Yanks were encountered. Forrest, undaunted by the odds, assailed the roadblock. One of the war’s most furious hand-to-hand fights occurred, in which the general killed three of the enemy horse soldiers. Just as it seemed that Forrest and his small force was about to be overwhelmed, Col. “Black Bob” McCulloch, wounded earlier in the day’s fighting, led his brigade to his general’s rescue, brandishing his bloodstained bandaged hand above his head as a flag.

The Federals gave way before the Rebel reinforcements, pulled back about a mile, and rallied on a plantation house, its outbuildings, and fences. Forrest’s horse, as he led his men toward the stronghold, was killed. One of the escort surrendered his steed to the general, as the Federals soon abandoned this position in favor of another roadblock, while General Smith and their officers sought to buy time. Here there was another short, sharp fight, in which Forrest’s second horse was shot down. His favorite charger “King Philip” was brought up, and Forrest rode him until nightfall, closing the day’s fighting, though “King Philip” received a slight neck wound.

The day’s last battle took place halfway between Okolona and Pontotoc, when the Yanks “made a last and final effort to check pursuit.” There were charges and countercharges before the Federals disengaged abandoning a cannon. Dusk was at hand and Forrest, seeing that his men and his mounts were fagged out by two days of marching and fighting which had brought them nearly 50 miles—from the crossing to the Sakatonchee to within ten miles of Pontotoc—called a halt.

Discouraged and beaten, Sooy Smith’s once proud corps hurried on to Memphis, where they arrived on February 27. A Union brigade commander best summed up Forrest’s accomplishments:

The retreat to Memphis was a weary, disheartening, and almost panic-stricken flight, in the greatest disorder and confusion, and through a most difficult country. The First Brigade reached its camping-ground five days after the engagement, with the loss of all its heart and spirit, and nearly fifteen hundred fine cavalry horses. The expedition filled every man connected with it with burning shame, and it gave Forrest the most glorious achievement of his career.

Protest rally planned [poll]The Sons of Confederate Veterans rally is set to begin at 6 p.m. Lexington City Council's public hearing is scheduled for 8 p.m.

LEXINGTON -- Officials in this city where Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson are buried are considering limits on downtown flag-flying, including the Confederate flag, angering defenders of the divisive Southern symbol.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans organized a rally ahead of a scheduled public hearing Thursday night and an expected vote. Organizers of the "Save our Flags" rally are offering free hot dogs and music, have lined up speakers and distributed a flyer with a drawing of Lee, a tear rolling down his cheek.

"We're prepared for 300," said Brandon Dorsey, commander of Camp 1296 of the Stonewall Brigade of the Confederate Veterans. "We could have more, we could have less."

Officials in this college town of 7,000 insist the flag limits are not aimed at the Confederate flag. The proposal would limit the use of downtown poles to the flying of the U.S., Virginia and Lexington flags. It would not restrict the display of the Confederate flag elsewhere in the city.

"They can carry their flags anywhere they want," City Manager T. Jon Ellestad. The city received hundreds of complaints the last time Confederate flags were planted in holders on lights poles, in January to mark Lee-Jackson Day, a state holiday.

People complained "that displaying the Confederate flag is very hurtful to groups of people," Ellestad said. "In their mind, it stands for the defense of slavery."

The complaints convinced city leaders they should have clear guidelines governing the flying of flags and banners on light poles, Ellestad said.

Heritage groups such as Sons of Confederate Veterans said the restrictions on the flying of the Confederate flag in Lexington are especially painful because of the two military leaders' strong ties here.

A Virginia NAACP representative could not be immediately reached for comment.

The NAACP launched an economic boycott of South Carolina in 1999 about the Confederate flag that flew atop the Statehouse dome and in the chambers of the House and Senate. A compromise in 2000 moved the flag to a monument outside the Statehouse. The group's president says the flag is a symbol of slavery and segregation.

Jackson taught at Virginia Military Institute before the Civil War, where he became widely known as "Stonewall" after the first Battle of Manassas; he died in 1863 from wounds suffered at Chancellorsville along with pneumonia, and is buried in Lexington, according to the website for the Stonewall Jackson House. Lee, who led Confederate forces during the Civil War before finally surrendering at Appomattox in 1865, became president of what is now Washington and Lee University, where he is buried.

"By all means they should be honored in their hometown," Dorsey said. "I look at the flag as honoring the veterans."

This is not the first time Lexington, is at the southern end of the Shenandoah Valley, has clashed with the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

The city attempted nearly 20 years ago to ban the display of the Confederate flag during a parade honoring Jackson. The American Civil Liberties Union, which successfully defended the group's bid to carry the flag, is closely watching this dispute from afar.

"City council could live to regret this ordinance, as it imposes unusually restrictive limits on the use of the light poles," said Kent Willis, the ACLU's executive director in Virginia. "Sometime in the future when city officials want to use those light poles to promote a special event they may find themselves handcuffed by their own lawmaking."

WHEREAS, Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson are native Virginians, having served our great nation and Commonwealth as educators, leaders, and military strategists; and

WHEREAS, Lee served in the United States Army for more than three decades until he left his position to serve as Commander in Chief of Virginia’s military forces and as Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia; and

WHEREAS, Jackson taught philosophy and military tactics as a professor at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington for nearly a decade before serving briefly in the United States Army and later joining the Confederate Army to fight for his native Virginia; and

WHEREAS, Lee dedicated his life after the Civil War to reforming higher education in the South by serving as President of Washington College, now Washington & Lee University, in Lexington, Virginia, where he helped to greatly increase the school’s funding and expand the curriculum to create an atmosphere most conducive to learning for young men of both Southern and Northern heritage; and

WHEREAS, Jackson’s leadership and bravery enabled him to rally his troops to several improbable victories against numerically superior forces, and Jackson’s inspired “Stonewall Brigade” fought alongside General Lee’s troops in another victory, even after their leader was fatally wounded on the second day of the Battle of Chancellorsville; and

WHEREAS, it is fitting to recognize Generals Lee and Jackson as two of our nation’s most notable military strategists, as beloved leaders among their troops, as pioneers in the field of higher education, and as faithful and dedicated Virginians;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert F. McDonnell, do hereby recognize January 13, 2012 as LEE-JACKSON DAY in our COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of our citizens.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Surprising our stereotypes: So who was the last slaveowner to be US president?Ulysses Simpson Grant.

We quote William S. McFeely’s Pulitzer Prize winning biography:

In 1858 he [Grant] hired two slaves from their owners and borrowed one, William Jones, from his father-in-law. Jones, whom he subsequently bought, was about thirty-five years old and five feet seven inches tall, resembling Grant in both age and build, and they worked closely together.[1]Not surprisingly, when readers learn of this for the first time, their reactions can range from indignant disbelief and ad hominum attacks on the message bearer to a grinning, head-nodding “I told you so.” Yet both responses betray their own anchored stereotypes.

The true student of the past recognizes that every generation tends to interpret history in the light of their own experiences. Indeed, learning from the lessons of the past … bettering our lives by avoiding the errors of our predecessors … and passing along that acquired wisdom to our children is what advances civilization. Yet know that belief and bias share a number of common borders, often blurring those boundaries when convenience, motive, or personal gain influence our judgment.

For those who would vilify the 18th President, consider, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story:

On one occasion Grant was reported to have stopped the whipping of a slave by a farmer neighbor, and in 1859, when he was leaving the farm to go into business in St. Louis and was severely pressed financially, he did not sell William Jones but instead set him free.[2]Our comfortable stereotypes are indeed, subject to ambush.

And yes, a number of you remembered that VMI Professor Thomas J. Jackson of Lexington, Virginia, organized a Sunday school class for blacks, teaching them to read the Bible and write their names in a society that often did more than frown on those who sought to make slaves literate. Fewer readers knew that Sgt. Richard Kirkland, a South Carolinian, is the only enlisted soldier, North or South, who has a statue to his battlefield heroics in the South … and the North.

Of course hours after this is posted, some of you will remind the rest that Grant’s opponent, Robert E. Lee, had likewise fulfilled the manumission clause in his father-in-law’s will freeing the slaves at Arlington House, days after his stunning victory at Fredericksburg in December of 1862.

It’s all out there waiting to be discovered. We just have to get beyond our biases … our expectations … and those stereotypes.

And we can start with this one: beyond defeat, subjugation, and poverty, the South was left with something else after Appomattox. You see, even today, many Americans perceive racism as a purely Southern problem. Back then, the fact that most blacks lived in the South gave the charge a measure of credence. Yet why blacks remained in the old Confederates states afterwards is a fact often, if not conveniently, overlooked.

To be sure, after the war, blacks did migrate to that “promised land of opportunity” only to find that the North offered no forty acres and a mule, or anything else beyond a legal declaration of freedom. The long range effects exploded decades later as race riots in Chicago, Tulsa, Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Harlem, Boston and a dozen other metropolitan areas, graphically debunking this long held stereotype because racism in America has no sectional boundaries; it is a nationwide sickness.

Yet, as Jackson biographer James I. Robertson notes, “it is the South that has remained the target for accusations of racial injustice. One might say, with unconcealed cynicism, that the South has had to bear the brunt of a national guilty conscience”…far after the fighting stopped

Thursday, January 12, 2012

On Friday and Saturday Lee-Jackson Day will be held in Lexington, VA. This year it is especially important to be there for for this event due to the ban on the display of Confederate flags by the City of Lexington.

Below you will find the website about the event and the full schedule of events to be held. If you are within driving distance of Lexington, VA the place to be on Saturday is Lexington, VA.

Lexington, VA - The battle over the Confederate flag in Lexington entered a new phase when attorneys representing the Sons of Confederate Veterans filed a civil rights lawsuit in Roanoke federal court against the city of Lexington Thursday afternoon.

It was an expected move after the city banned all flag displays on city property except for national, state or city flags.

While it is a new development, much of the legal action is simply asking for a 19-year old court decision to be upheld that would once again allow the Sons of Confederate Veterans to fly the Confederate flag on Lee-Jackson Day.

Beneath the watchful eye of General Stonewall Jackson himself, in a cemetery where 342 confederate soldiers lay buried, a generation working to preserve those sacrifices gets set to once again make their point.

"Ever since the city adopted the ordinance, we've come out once a week on Thursdays usually at lunch time and just walk through town carrying some flags," said Brandon Dorsey, part of Sons of Confederate Veterans.

The message is simple.

"We told city council if they didn't want to see flags once a year, we'd let them see them once a week," said Dorsey.

And they do. They also told city council that if they go back on the 1993 court sanctioned promise not to interfere with the presentation of the confederate flag in Lexington, they would sue them again. And they did.

"This is a first amendment issue. This is a constitutional issue. This is a freedom of speech issue and we have to be ever vigilant when those rights are trespassed," said Tom Strelka, SCV attorney.

The two count lawsuit asks for the court to find the City of Lexington in contempt of that 1993 order plus a new charge for violating the groups' civil rights once again.

And because the Sons feel they can prove the city acted solely because of the confederate flag, even though the ordinance bans almost all flags, they are confident that they will once again prevail.

"I think it's pretty clear that the reason they took this vote was to silence what we were doing," said Dorsey.

Although Lexington City Manager Jon Ellistad deferred all comments to the city attorney, he did say that the city had anticipated the lawsuit.

The City Attorney, Laurence Mann, did not return phone calls Thursday about the lawsuit.

The Budget and Finance Committee will review request for grants from General Headquarters before the Fall and Spring GEC meetings. The deadline to submit a request for consideration at the Fall 2011 GEC meeting is September 1, 2011.

The deadline for requests to be received for consideration at the Spring 2012 GEC meeting is January 15, 2012.

Those requesting funds should read the Funding Proposal Guidelines found on the Forms and Documents page of scv.org at:http://www.scv.org/pdf/FundingProposalGuidelines.pdf

The form to be used to make a request for a grant is also on the Forms and Documents page at: http://www.scv.org/pdf/SCVFundRequests.pdf

Submission of the form is the minimum level of information that must be provided to make a funding request. Those making requests are encouraged to provide supplemental information describing their project.

If you have any questions regarding the guidelines, form or process please contact me.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Here is a special offer from Ancestry.com that generates money for the SCV. This source of records is an asset for every camp to have access to in order to help potential members with their genealogy.

SCV Member Offer From Ancestry.com

We are pleased to announce a special opportunity to SCV members. The SCV would like to introduce you to Ancestry.com, a great online resource for researching your family tree. Ancestry.com currently offers access to numberous genealogy records.

SCV members can now get membership to Ancestry.com by going to SCV.org and scroll down to the Ancestry.com link or go to http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-5451196-10467607In addition, for every purchase of a Ancestry.com membership the SCV will earn a commission.

The Stephen D. Lee Institute has named the Francis S. Bartow Camp #93 of Savannah to host the Friday Meet the Speakers Reception. Speaking that evening will be prominent Georgia historian David A. Dickey. Mr. Dickey's topic will be "The Devil Comes to Georgia: William Tecumsah Sherman".

The Institute would also like to remind all attendees that the reduced hotel rate will not last much longer so please get your registrations and reservations taken care of.

SPEAKERS FOR SATURDAY

Jonathan White "Calculating the Value of the Union: Physical costs of the War to Prevent Southern Independence"

Ronald Kennedy "Liberty: The Price of Federal Supremacy"

David Aiken "Lincoln's Blood Money and the financial impact of the war"

Donald Livingston "How Lincoln's War derailed Constitutional Liberty"

Douglas Bostick "Colored Troops for Work": The Union Army's Assessment and Use of Black Troops

Michael Scruggs "Advent of the Federal financial system"

Anyone who has ever attended a Stephen Dill Lee Institute meeting has come away with a newfound understanding of American history. Please mark your calendar for February 3-4. 2012, and join us in Savannah.

If you have a question please contact Brag Bowling at 804-389-3620.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT A LIMITED AMOUNT OF SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS ARE PRESENTLY AVAILABLE.

On Saturday, about 100 people gathered in the historic Mount Holly Cemetery to remember Dodd, who was 17 when the Union Army hanged him as a spy. Civil War re-enactors and history buffs have been holding the annual event for decades.

"We honor and respect him as an individual who had principles," said Danny Honnoll of Jonesboro, Ark., a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. "How many of us have principles that we are willing to die for?"

Dodd is an Arkansas legend. His story has inspired poems, a 1915 silent Hollywood movie, monuments and more recently, a play and an in-the-works documentary. An elementary school in Little Rock is named in his memory.

For Ron Kelley, a history teacher and re-enactor from Watson Chapel, Ark., Dodd represents a romantic hero in a great American tragedy.

"He was steadfast in his belief and love," Kelley told Reuters. "This isn't so much about the Confederacy as it is about Arkansas history."

According to Civil War documents, Dodd, who knew Morse code, left Camden, Ark., and traveled by mule to Little Rock on business for his father on Christmas Eve in 1863. He had a pass from a Confederate general that would allow him to travel in Union territory.

On his way back to Camden, Union sentries took his pass as he was expected not to return. He stopped in southwest Little Rock to spend the night with his uncle. Resuming his journey, Dodd found himself behind Union lines.

Union soldiers asked for identification. Dodd showed a small leather notebook that contained his birth certificate and a page filled with Morse code dots and dashes.

A Union officer translated the code that contained information about Union strength in Little Rock. Dodd was arrested, convicted of being a spy and sentenced to execution by hanging. He could have been released if he had revealed the name of his informant. But Dodd refused.

He was buried in a plot donated by a Little Rock resident, with no music or words to mark the burial.

That was not the case at Saturday's service.

Re-enactors in period attire began their journey at the site of Dodd's hanging in downtown Little Rock. They marched one mile to the cemetery where spectators gathered to watch the ceremony.

A bagpipe player marched in front of the soldiers to the site of Dodd's grave, where women in hooped dresses held red roses.

After an invocation, Brent Carr, a member of a division of Sons of Confederate Veterans that is named for Dodd, told the story of the boy hero.

Carr said Dodd represented "faith, hope and ambition" that still rings true 147 years later.

Bobbie Barnett, clad head to toe in 1860s mourning dress with a veil covering her face, and her husband, Dale, also in Confederate attire, placed a bouquet on Dodd's grave.

Five other women followed them before a gun salute by the re-enactors. A bagpiper played "Amazing Grace." The soldiers led the crowd in a sing-along to "Dixie."

Barnett, a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, has been attending the Dodd annual event since 1994. She said that events like Saturday's do more than preserve Southern history.

"It encourages people to research their family tree," said Barnett, of Ravenden, Ark.

"Even if their family didn't fight in the war, someone in their family experienced hardship because of it."

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Bid packages for those wishing to host the 2015 reunion are due by January 15, 2012. They should be sent to Chairman Joe Ringhoffer at 1211 Government St. Mobile, AL 36604 or emailed to ringhje@aol.com.

Bidders should include in their proposals information such as the cost of guest rooms at the hotel(s), any parking fees, host hotel flag display policy, meeting facility layout, and projected registration cost. This information is needed in addition to the bidders plans for tours and events and information about attractions in the area.

The Guidelines for hosting a convention can be obtained from Joe Ringhoffer at the email address above.

The place and date of the meeting of the Time and Place Committee where bidders will make their formal presentations will be announced after receipt of the bids.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Compatriots, The Deadline for those wishing to submit proposed amendments to the SCV Constitution or the Standing Orders to be considered at the Reunion in Murfreesboro, TN in July 2012 is February 8, 2012.

Amendments should be submitted to Executive Director Ben Sewell at General Headquarters. They can be sent either by email to exedir@scv.org or by US Mail to: Sons of Confederate Veterans, P.O. Box 59, Columbia, TN 38402. Email submissions must be sent on or before February 8, 2012 and those send by US Mail must be postmarked by February 8, 2012. Those submitting proposed amendments should include their name, camp number and contact information - phone number and email address is available.

Please also send a brief statement as to the purpose of the amendment and the reasons it should be adopted. This will better help camps understand the purpose and advantages of the proposed amendment.

Executive Director Sewell will acknowledge receipt of the amendments. However, it is the responsibility of the sender to confirm with Director Sewell that any amendment submitted was received at General Heatquarters. Please contact me or Executive Director Sewell if you have any questions.